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LETTERS: Alfredo Espinosa-Brito, Julian Viera-Yaniz, Osmel Chavez-Troya, and Raul Nieto-Cabrera Death of the teaching autopsy: Autopsy is a success story in Cuba BMJ 2004; 328: 166-a [Full text]

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Diagnostic errors in different medical eras

Franco Salomon   (16 January 2004)

Diagnostic errors in different medical eras 16 January 2004
Franco Salomon, Leitender Arzt Medizinische Klinik B, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Zurich Swit Send response to journal: Re: Diagnostic errors in different medical eras	There is one original study (1) and one systematic review (2) that show that diagnostic errors have decreased over time. This is not to say that the validity of an autopsy has decreased over time. Necropsy is the basis of the diagnostic quality control. 1. Sonderegger-Iseli K, Burger S, Muntwyler J, Salomon F. Diagnostic errors in three medical eras: a necropsy study. Lancet 2000: 355;2027-31 2. Shojania KG, Burton EC, McDonald KM, Goldman L. Changes in rates of autopsy-detected diagnostic errors over time: a systematic review. JAMA 2003;289:2849-56 Competing interests: None declared